The Women of Troy played in the program's first-ever conference championship game, and had already produced a school-record 13 wins, eight league victories, and went further in the MPSF tourney than in any other season. With an NCAA ratings percentage index ranking of No. 24, the Trojans are eligible to be selected into the NCAA Championship Tournament with an at-large berth.

USC trailed by just a goal at halftime, but the Cardinal won the center circle by a 21-7 margin in the game, to secure the victory. The Trojans had more ground balls (16-11), and just six turnovers, but were out-shot, 32-25, overall.

Michael led all scorers with six points (5g, 1a) and scored four of her goals in the second half. She also grabbed four draw controls. Sophomore attacker Gabby McMahon scored two goals and had an assist to go with three caused turnovers and a ground ball. Junior midfielder Amanda Johansen had two points (1g, 1a) and one draw control. Sophomore attacker Kylie Drexel, Cynthia Del Core, and Annie Ruland scored the other three USC goals.

Defensively, the Trojans were led by Tarleton's four ground-ball performance. Freshman goalie Gussie Johns also had four ground balls and produced 10 saves on the Cardinal's 26 shots on goal.

For Stanford, four players had hat tricks, including Hannah Farr who had four goals, an assist, and three draw controls. Rachel Ozer (3g, 2a) had five points, Alexandra Crerend scored three goals, and Kelly Myers scored three as well. Lucy Dikeou scored two goals and logged an assist. In goal, Allie DaCar had seven saves for the Cardinal. Rachel Kalick had four of the Cardinal's 11 ground balls.

Within seven minutes of the opening draw, Stanford had built a 3-0 lead with a pair of goals from Myers and one from Crerend. The Women of Troy stayed the course and pulled within one with a 3-1 run on goals by Johansen, Michael, and McMahon with just under six minutes until halftime. Farr scored one more for the Cardinal, but Ruland and McMahon were true on the trigger to get the Trojans a five-all tie with 24 seconds left to play. It was all Stanford needed though as it scored with just one second left on the clock to take the 6-5 lead into halftime.

Barely six minutes had gone off the clock in the second half before the Trojans found themselves in a 10-5 hole thanks to a 4-0 Stanford scoring run. Michael had the answer, but the Cardinal scored two goals to her one and went ahead, 12-6, with under 20 minutes to play. Ozer scored her goal, but USC had another short run in it as the Trojans scored three of the next four to get within four goals at 14-10. That was the closest it would come as the teams traded goals down the stretch to finish with Stanford on top, 16-11.

For more information on the USC women's lacrosse team, please visit USCTrojans.com. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow the team on Instagram and Twitter @USCTrojansLax.

GAME NOTES

USC dropped to 1-3 in all-time meetings with Stanford. It was the first time that the Trojans met the Cardinal in the MPSF Tournament.

The Trojans played their first-ever MPSF championship game. USC had previously been to the quarterfinals (2014) and the semifinals (2013) before the field was expanded to six teams.

The Women of Troy completed the season with a school-record 13 wins.

Sophomore attacker Michaela Michael finished with four draw controls to up her season total to 108 and extend her MPSF single-season and USC single-season school records.

Michael scored five goals against Stanford to mark the fifth time this season that she has had five or more goals in a game. She also ran her season total to 56 goals, to set a new USC single-season record.

Freshman goalie Gussie Johns finished with 10 saves; her third-career game in double digits for saves.